


Letting The Past Go

by ShyLittleWriter



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Also there is only a slight reference to the things Dorothy had to endure, Dorothy and Zelena have problems, F/F, hence the teens and up rating, just letting everyone know, not a literal description of what they did to her., that need some fixing, this is not a romance story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:08:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,377
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23861308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyLittleWriter/pseuds/ShyLittleWriter
Summary: Zelena and Dorothy have a heart to heart about their past and trying to overcome their problems
Relationships: Dorothy Gale & Wicked Witch of the West/Zelena
Kudos: 4





	Letting The Past Go

It was a warm summer day and the soft breeze surrounding the air invited everyone in the town of Storybrooke to leave their house and enjoy the day, given the idea that quiet times were rare in the place.

Ruby and Dorothy had planned to take a walk around the park, taking a basket filled with all of Granny's best sweets. Walking at a slow pace with their hands intertwined, they were abruptly interrupted by a hand touching Dorothy's arm from behind.

The scare brought the woman's survival skills to the surface, leading her to twist the arm of the unknown and grab an inexistent knife to place at the person's throat. It wasn’t her intention to harm anyone, since she was aware that Storybrooke was rather safer than Oz, but there were still those moments where her twisted mind played its tricks on her.

"Dorothy!"

The scream was enough to bring her back to reality, looking around and realizing the one she had currently wrapped around her arms was Zelena, with a terrified Ruby looking at them.

Zelena made no effort to free herself from Dorothy. She let the woman awake from her trance and free her by her own will. Releasing her, Dorothy gave a half-sorry apology about not knowing what had come over her. Zelena amazed her by saying she understood.

"I see you still use the same old 'knife at throat' technique."

"Well, what can I say? You do what you can when you're trying to survive a family that thinks you're crazy and a wicked witch that wants you 6 feet under."

Dorothy intended her phrase to be sensed as a joke, but the look Zelena was giving her told her, the end purpose had not been achieved.

"I was hoping we could talk. In private," Zelena mentioned looking discreetly at Ruby.

"I don't keep secrets from Ruby. Whatever you need to say to me, you can say in front of her as well."

"It's about our times in Oz. I think we are long do for a conversation."

"It's ok Kansas. I'll stay over there, next to Belle. We have to talk about the next book we're going to talk about in book club anyways."

They parted ways with a kiss and the promise she wouldn't try to kill Zelena in the meantime. Looking at her former enemy, Dorothy couldn't see the former hatred but only the shadow of remorse flickering around blue eyes, surprising her.

For so many years, they had hated each other, to the point of nearly killing the other. If you count THAT one time, Dorothy had actually succeeded in her mission.

Finding what seemed to be the only available bench near their girlfriends, the duo remained in an uncomfortable silence that seemed to last hours.

Zelena didn't knew how to begin, trying to formulate a rational thought to express just how sorry she truly was for putting Dorothy through the misery her life had become once she settle in Oz.

"I'm...i'm sorry. I don’t really know any other way that I could start this off."

"What part in specific are you sorry? The one where you try to kill me because a 'prophecy' told you I was going to be your end? The one where you devastate a 15 year old, who not only had to endure her family’s hatred but the traumas that Oz also brought her? Making me spend months without sleeping or being able to leave the house, afraid I would hurt the only person that actually wanted and loved me? The one where you made my entire family abandon me in a damn hospital, telling little old me that I was a - what was the words they used? oh yes - 'a worthless piece of shit that needed to be taught to never lie again'? The months I spent being tortured by sadistic people who took joy in my suffering? No wait, I know, the one where you put me in a sleeping curse making my last memory be that I didn’t have anyone in my life?"

Dorothy didn’t intend to explode on Zelena. It was one of the things Archie had helped her understand in her sessions. Accepting your past is half way to accepting that’s all it is: your past. The problems and struggles you endure over the course of your life will not define your future.

She could accept that Zelena had changed for the better, but some wounds are just too deep to heal in a matter of months.

‘Think about it Dorothy. You went to Oz, returned to Kansas, endured all that and yet, when Oz needed you the most, you came back. Not only did they need you, you also needed them. Those people gave you the love you always wanted, but didn’t want to admit,’ explained Archie while fixing the position of his glasses, ‘You need to let go of the past. You don’t have to forget what happened, nor should you simply forgive those that wronged you, but accepting that it left a lasting mark on you. It’s the only way you can move on’.

It was something that was taking time, but Dorothy was determined to make it worth.

"Yes...I don't want to use my past as an excuse for the things I did to you. Bloody hell, I won't do it. For the longest time, I've held onto that excuse all my actions and pretend I was the victim. I used my mother’s abandonment and the abuse my adoptive father to fuel my anger and my magic. It seemed at times that was the only thing I had left for me. I never had ‘friends’ or ‘family’. It was just me and my magic. But this place changed me. The people changed me. Regina showed me that I was the only one that could initiate the shift from villain to hero. My daughter showed me what unconditional love truly feels like. Belle spends every day proving me that loving someone is about accepting every detail about them, good and bad. Even you taught me a valuable lesson."

"That you should always double check when you melt someone to the ground?," sassed the Kansas woman.

"That my past doesn't define the person I'll become. You had every chance to give up and avenge the wrongness your family and I put you through. But you didn't. You fought to prove your value. You continue to fight to do such. I understand that our history is very complicated, filled with misadventures and complications, but I hope someday I get to look at you and not fill this guilt. To feel like I could even consider you as a friend."

The silence had returned. Dorothy couldn't - wouldn't - lie, she still held a lot of scars for the things she went through both in Kansas and in Oz. But time had allowed her to see things in different perspectives: Henry's book had been a wonderful help in that matter as well.

Zelena's history had not been easy. She could see why Zelena has grown to become the woman she knew when first arriving in Oz. Now, she could only feel sorry for the remaining person that had become Zelena.

“I read your story. On Henry’s book.”

“Which parts?”

“All of it. I…guess you could say, we’re not so different. You did have a miserable life, and I can’t say that it makes me happy to know you suffered, because that is not who I am. Even though I haven’t forgiven you, I feel sorry for what you had to tolerate.”

“Thank you.”

“And I…guess it’s going to take some time. But Archie has been really helpful to understand and come to terms with all my problems. Maybe he’ll be able to help you too.”

Zelena wished to say she didn’t truly believe a cricket would be better help than a tree, but she kept things civil and simply replied with an ‘I’ll give it a thought’.

The silence had returned, but with it, came the knowledge of healing and that if time and patience stayed by their side, maybe they would be able to truly accomplish their promises of letting go of their past.


End file.
